DPRK's History of Self-reliance (6)

Pyongyang, April 22 (KCNA) -- Recorded in the DPRK's history of self-reliance are feats of the working class of Kangson who had played a vanguard role in the nation building after Korea's liberation from Japan's colonial rule (August 15, 1945).

Just before their defeat, the Japanese imperialists severely destroyed the machinery and equipment including electric furnace and rolling mill at the then Kangson Steel Plant and burnt all the technical documents. And they claimed that Koreans could not restore the plant with their own efforts and technology even in 10 years.

President Kim Il Sung visited the workers of the Kangson Steel Plant on October 9, Juche 34 (1945), saying that they should be a vanguard in the work for building a democratic country. He stressed that there would be nothing impossible to do if they struggle in the spirit of self-reliance as the anti-Japanese guerrillas did, and they should display the might of the liberated Korean working class by restoring the plant on their own efforts as soon as possible to produce the steel.

Inspired by his trust, the workers of the Kangson Steel Plant turned out in the plant rehabilitation. Despite the lack of technology and experience, they could restore the electric furnace in two months to turn out the first molten iron, settling everything with their own efforts and technology.

And they successfully carried out their national economic plan for 1947 and raised the steel output in 1949 1.6 times that in 1944.

Amid the display of the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance in building a new country under the guidance of the President, many factories and enterprises started their operation towards the end of 1945 and the main sectors of the ruined economy were recovered in less than 18 months. -0-